


change, heavy on your shoulders

by llien



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Boys Being Boys, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-28 05:12:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18749695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/llien/pseuds/llien
Summary: Riku closed the door in front of him, waited a beat, and opened it to still find Sora cross-legged with a popsicle stick between his lips, giving Riku a look."Everyone thinks you're sooo serious," Sora said.Prompt: #19Is that my shirt?





	change, heavy on your shoulders

**Author's Note:**

> Set post kh3 and whatever the next game is, based off the premise that Sora disappears for a long time and eventually Riku brings him back, but not before everyone realizes the price Sora paid for all their individual happiness, and how much burden they actually put on him. Riku reluctantly attends high school but Sora, who's been missing years of education now, can't really bear to go back to school, especially since he'd still be in his last year of middle school while Riku's a senior in high school. 
> 
> A lot of...purposefully sweeping things under the rug and Riku trying to help Sora without seeming pitying.

> 19\. Is that my shirt?

Riku walked into his own room to find Sora sitting on his bed, controller in hand as if he lived there. Which, frankly with as often as Riku found him there, might as well be the case. He closed the door in front of him, waited a beat, and opened it to still find Sora cross-legged with a popsicle stick between his lips, giving Riku a  _look._

"Everyone thinks you're sooo serious," Sora said, returning his attention to the game on Riku's TV. He squinted at it, and found it to be the brand new release Riku himself hadn't gotten around to playing yet. 

Riku scoffed, walking fully into his room to drop his bag by his desk and to toes his socks off. "I  _am_ serious, but it's hard to take a goofy face like yours seriously."

"Hey!" Sora protested, word slightly garbled from his teeth holding onto the stick. "I've got a  _charming_ face!"

"And who said that?" Riku asked, equal parts teasing, in disbelief, and jealousy-based curiosity. He walked over to his closet, intent on changing out of his school uniform into something more comfortable. His thus-far distant parents had finally rallied and demanded Riku attend school until he graduated, and then he could do all the world hoping he wished. Sora, who had been missing for longer than Riku ever ever cared to remember again, was exempt from this. 

"Kairi," Sora said, then, "Aqua, and Lea, and Terra, and," he hummed, and Riku could just picture the way he'd tilt his head side to side, in that ridiculously adorable way of his. "I think that's it, but I'm not sure if Lea really counts 'cause I can never tell if he's being sarcastic or not."

Riku, born out of years of self-inflicted competition and then following relief so mind-numbingly immense he found any other insecurity paled in comparison, changed in front of Sora with little hesitation or nerves. He pulled his shirt down proper and finally turned to face Sora, starting, "So do you just go around asking people what your face looks like?"

"No!" Sora scowled, insisting like a kid would. "It was just after they saw me, I guess, you know. How we changed."

It was true. Sora had returned slightly older, not in a lost pocket of time like they'd theorized. Or rather, it'd been more like his body had been stored safely away, mind out on escapades as usual.

Riku observed his best friend. He'd come back slightly taller — through really, not much at all, which had been an endless source of amusement — tanner, more defined. He'd grown into that boyish charm. And—

"What are you  _wearing?"_  Riku demanded, all cool lost the moment it registered that Sora was definitely in his sweats and one of his cut off shirts, loose and breezy on Sora where on Riku it was snug. Riku could just see the way the sweats were rolled up to just under his knees and at the hips, too. "Really, Sora? They don't even fit."

Sora glanced down as if he'd forgotten, and he gave a nervous certain laugh, pausing his game and popsicle stick bobbing with the motion. "Uhm, I kinda spilled one of your shakes while I was making lunch, so I just borrowed some. Come on, Riku, I'll even wash 'em before I return them!"

"So you weren't going to in the first place?" Riku said mindlessly, zeroing in on Sora's exposed chest and midriff when he shifted nervously, his hair, just a smidge longer than usual, was curling enticingly around his nape. He crossed the room and plopped onto the bed beside Sora, sending him bouncing. Sora hastily grabbed the hem of the shirt to pull it down, but not before Riku saw what he'd attempted to hide.  _That_ scar was still there, a sobering reminder of their past.

 _X marks the spot,_ Sora had once told him, childish bravado echoing dully. 

"I was," Sora muttered petulantly. 

"Sure you were," Riku said, "just like you asked to eat my ice cream first." He reached over and pulled the stick free. Sora's hand jerked up as if to take it back but he dropped it when Riku flipped it between his fingers to tap the dry end against his chin. "But honestly, what're you doing here Sora? Not that I mind you crashing here all the time, but after a while it get's concerning."

Nothing short of the sun going out would convince Riku to admit the truth. He was getting much too used to Sora being around all the time. Imagining him gone again, even for a week on a mission, was too much to ask for.

The first month he'd been back, Riku hadn't let him out of his sight, chaperoning him to every world he insisted on going to in order to greet all his friends. He'd been relentlessly teased for it, and still was, but it was worth it to comfort the fear that still hadn't completely gone away yet.

Still, more than Riku's fears, whatever issue Sora might have took prevalence. It'd been a sobering lesson to all of them when he'd disappeared that Sora's heart had been battered more than they'd assumed. It was late now, and maybe they couldn't ever fix what went wrong, but they all still tried to make up for it.

"Nothing," Sora said, settling the controller down between them to grasp at his ankles with his hands, drawing them in close in a sloppy butterfly stretch. He looked at the television, the darkened paused screen reflecting them slightly. His lashes still obscured his gaze when he looked down. "Is it so weird that I wanna stay here?"

"No," Riku murmured, then chuckled, "we spent half our childhood either at your place or mine before we found that beach. It makes me feel like a kid again, having you over all the time."

Sora flashed a dizzying, relieved smile at Riku, obviously relaxing. Did he really think Riku would ever kick him out? "Good, because I like being here."

If only Riku could stop his traitorous heart from beating so fiercely, strung along by Sora's careless words. 

Riku had  _accepted_ what he felt, but after Sora left, that acceptance had grown like a wild thing, turning into yearning, desire, leaving Riku to do silly things, like wish on shooting stars just for him to come back.

"You like eating all my food," Riku corrected teasingly, snagging the controller to try the game out for himself, "and making me look at spoilers for a game I haven't even got to play yet."

"I got bored!" Sora protested, swaying side to side, his shoulder occasionally brushing Riku's, who tried not to show how much it got to him. "You can start a new file though, I'm kinda hungry for a snack anyways."

Riku navigated to save and return to the main menu and sighed, standing up. "Might as well get one together."

Sora cheered, and together they tromped into Riku's kitchen, well stocked but the rest of his house as empty of life as always. It felt more like Riku lived there by himself. 

It made Sora's vibrant, cheerful presence a welcome one as he hopped onto Riku's island counter and kicked his feet eagerly. 

"Nope," Riku said, moving over to catch one of Sora's swinging feet and tugging harshly enough that he nearly slipped right off the marbletop if he hadn't gripped the edge like death was waiting for him, yelping.  _"I'm_ not doing all the work, Mr. Five Star Bistro Chef."

"I made my own lunch!" Sora whined, straining against Riku pulling on his ankle, undoing the rolled up cuff. "I want you to cook!"

"What? Why?" Riku demanded, baffled.

"I like you doing things for me," Sora grinned, cheeky, and so Riku pinched the skin of his shin on his other leg. "Ow! Geez, that's sensitive!"

"You always say that," Riku grinned and reached over to poke Sora's side where  _his_ shirt exposed just a sliver of skin, earning a similar exclamation as Sora's hands chased him away. He jabbed Sora's bicep, darted away, and then his palm when Sora tried to slap the offensive gestures. Instead, Sora wrapped his hand around Riku's and pulled hard enough to have him stumbling into Sora, who wrapped his arms around Riku's, pinning them to his chest.

"There!" Sora grinned, a breath away from Riku, "now I have the advantage in height  _and_ power!"

It was true, Riku realized, blinking dazedly. He actually had to tilt his head just a little to meet Sora's gaze. Hesitantly, Riku braced himself on the counter on either side of Sora, trying to resist the temptation to just rest fully against him.

"That's cheating," Riku mumbled, a second too late. It suddenly hit him with the weight of a wave crashing down into him, ripped away by an undercurrent into dread and guilt, that Sora hadn't really properly answered his question from before.

Sora's arms shifted up, until they were wrapped around Riku's shoulder and back, and Sora hugged him close. "Sorry," Sora mumbled beside Riku's ear, tickling him, "I just miss being here."

"That's okay," Riku said, swallowing around the lump in his throat. Sora was chasing his childhood, looking for comfort, for nostalgia. He was so stupid, how could he have missed it? Ice cream and shakes and Riku's clothes from the countless times he'd spent the night, playing games while sitting on the edge of Riku's bed. He sighed, forcing himself to stop trembling, and slowly, carefully, slid his arms around Sora's waist. 

They stood, embracing in the emptiness of Riku's childhood home, and for a moment Riku worried that they'd never be able to give back to Sora what they'd all taken. But then Sora exhaled quietly and relaxed, almost boneless in Riku's grasp, and he figured as long as he could help, things would turn out okay. 

**Author's Note:**

> twitter | _oathbreaker
> 
> [A short silly continuation.](https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sqsqo1)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
